Melanins have a wide range of functions in birds, including physical protection ( Barrowclough & Sibley 1980 Burtt 1986), protection from parasites ( Goldstein et al. The knowledge of vertebrate pigmentation genetics gained from studies of domesticated vertebrates, particularly mice and chickens, provides a sound basis for investigating the genetic basis of colour variation in the wild. More generally, there is growing interest in the genetic basis of adaptation and phenotypic evolution, but still very few examples in which the chain of causation from genetic change through to adaptive change in phenotype is fully understood. Much plumage colour variation both within and between species has a strong genetic component ( Buckley 1987 Merilä & Sheldon 2001 Price 2002 Mundy 2005) but there has been surprisingly little progress until recently in defining the genetic changes involved. 2001) and evolution of polymorphisms ( Roulin 2004). Plumage colouration has figured prominently in many fields, including sexual selection ( Darwin 1871 Andersson 1994), geographical differentiation and speciation ( Mayr 1963), evolution of sexual dimorphism ( Dunn et al. The dazzling array of plumage colour variation in birds has long attracted the attention of ecologists and evolutionary biologists.
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